».^>    aT-?- 


.^.1 


."k  ^ 


IMAGE  EVALUATION 
TEST  TARGET  (MT-3) 


% 
^ 


// 


*  W    M 


A 


& 
^ 


1.0 


I.I 


1^ 


2.5 


IM 

1.8 


1.25 

1.4 

1.6 

z 

^ 6"  - 

► 

s 


'W 


/a 


^> 


> 


o^ 


JS' 


% 


m 


s.         '-5/' 


1.  Ill 

Scieices 
Corporation 


23  WEST  MAIN  STREET 

WEBSTER,  NY.  14580 

(716)  872-4503 


(/. 


CIHM/ICMH 
Microfiche 


CIHM/iCMH 
Collection  de 
microfiches. 


Canadian  Institute  for  Historical  Microreproductions  /  Institut  Canadian  de  microreproductions  hisloriques 


Technical  and  Bibliographic  Notas/Notes  techniques  et  biblingraphiquas 


The  Institute  has  attempted  to  obtain  the  best 
original  copy  available  for  filming.  Features  of  this 
copy  which  may  be  bibliographically  unique, 
which  may  alter  any  of  the  images  in  the 
reproduction    or  which  may  significantly  change 
the  usual  method  of  filming,  are  checked  below. 


D 


Coloured  covers/ 
Couverture  da  couieur 


□    Covers  damaged/ 
Couverture  endommagfe 

□    Covers  restored  and/or  laminated/ 
Couverture  restaurAe  et/ou  peiliculAe 


D 


n 


D 


Cover  title  niissing/ 

Le  titre  de  couverture  manque 


□    Coloured  maps/ 
Cartes  giographiques  en  couieur 

□    Coloured  ink  (i.e.  other  than  blue  or  black)/ 
Encre  de  couieur  (i.e.  autre  que  bleue  ou  noire) 

□    Coloured  plates  and/or  illustrations/ 
Planches  et/ou  illustrations  en  couieur 


Bound  with  other  material/ 
Ralie  avec  d'autrea  documents 

Tight  binding  may  cause  shadows  or  distortion 
along  interior  margin/ 

La  re  liure  serree  peut  causer  de  I'ombre  ou  de  la 
distorsion  le  long  de  la  marge  intirieure 

Blank  leaves  added  during  ^-estoration  may 
appear  within  the  text.  Whenever  possible,  these 
have  been  omitted  from  filming/ 
II  se  peut  que  certaines  pages  blanches  ajout^es 
lors  d'une  restauration  apparaissent  dans  la  texte, 
mais,  lorsque  cela  6tait  possible,  ces  pages  n'ont 
pas  ixi  film^es. 


The 
tott^ 


L'Institut  a  microfilm^  le  meilleur  exemplaire 
qu'il  lui  a  it4  possible  da  se  procurer.  Les  details 
de  cet  exemplaire  qui  sont  peut-dtre  uniques  du 
point  de  vue  bibliographique,  qui  peuvent  modifier 
una  image  reproduite,  ou  qui  peuvent  axiger  una 
modification  dans  la  mithode  normale  de  filmage 
sont  indiquAs  ci-dessous. 


r~^    Coloured  pages/ 


D 


n 


Pages  de  couieur 


Pages  damaged/ 
Pages  endommagies 


□    Pages  restored  and/or  laminated/ 
Pages  restaurdes  et/ou  pelliculdes 

E    Pages  discoloured,  stained  or  foxed/ 
Pages  d^color^es,  tacheties  ou  piqui 


ees 


□    Pages  detached/ 
Pages  ditach^es 

0Showthrough/ 
Transparence 

□    Quality  of  print  varies/ 
Qualit^  inigale  de  I'impression 

r~1    Includes  supplementary  material/ 


Comprend  du  materiel  supplementaire 


Only  edition  available/ 
Seule  Edition  disponible 


Pages  wholly  or  partially  obscured  by  errata 
slips,  tissues,  etc.,  have  been  refilmed  to 
ensure  the  best  possible  image/ 
Les  pages  totalement  ou  partieilement 
obscurcies  par  un  feuillet  d'errata,  une  pelure. 
etc.,  cnt  ^td  film^es  d  nouveau  de  facon  a 
obtenir  la  meilleure  image  possible. 


Tha 
posi 
of  tl 
filmi 


Orig 

begl 

the 

sion 

oth( 

first 

sion 

oril 


Tha 
shal 
TIN 
whi 

Mai 
diff( 
enti 
beg 
righ 
reqi 
met 


D 


Additional  comments:/ 
Commentairas  suppiimentaires; 


This  item  is  filmed  at  the  reduction  ratio  checked  below/ 

Ce  do  ^ument  est  f ilmA  au  tauA  de  reduction  indiquA  ci-dessous. 


10X 

14X 

18X 

22X 

26X 

30X 

/ 

12X 


16X 


20X 


24X 


28X 


32X 


The  oopy  filmed  here  has  been  reproduced  thonks 
to  the  generosity  of: 

Library  of  the  Public 
Archives  of  Canada 


L'exemplaire  film*  fut  reproduit  grAce  A  la 
g^nirosltA  de: 

La  bibliothdi,ue  des  Archives 
publlques  du  Canada 


The  images  appearing  here  are  the  best  quality 
possible  considering  the  condition  and  legibility 
of  the  original  copy  and  in  keeping  with  the 
filming  contract  specifications. 


Les  images  suivantes  ont  6t6  reproduites  avec  le 
plus  grand  soin,  compte  tenu  de  la  condition  et 
de  la  nettetA  de  l'exemplaire  film*,  et  en 
conformity  avec  les  conditions  du  contrat  de 
filmage. 


Original  copies  in  printed  paper  covers  are  filmed 
beginning  with  the  front  cover  and  ending  on 
the  last  page  wl'.!i  a  printed  or  illustrated  Impres- 
sion, or  the  back  cover  when  appropriate.  All 
other  original  copies  nre  filmed  boglnning  on  the 
first  page  with  a  psinted  or  illustrated  impres- 
sion, and  ending  on  the  last  page  with  a  printed 
or  illustrated  impression. 


The  last  recorded  frame  on  each  microfiche 
shall  contain  the  symbol  —^-(meaning  "CON- 
TINUED"), or  the  symbol  V  (meaning  "END"), 
whichever  applies. 

Maps,  plates,  charts,  etc.,  may  be  filmed  at 
different  reduction  ratios.  Those  too  large  to  be 
entirely  included  in  one  exposure  are  filmed 
beginning  in  the  upper  left  hand  corner,  left  to 
right  and  top  to  bottom,  as  many  frames  as 
required.  The  following  diagrams  illustrate  the 
method: 


Les  exemplaires  originaux  dont  la  couverture  en 
papier  est  imprimie  sont  filir  As  en  commenpant 
par  le  premier  plat  et  en  term^nant  soit  par  la 
dernidre  page  qui  comporte  une  empreinte 
d'impression  ou  d'illustratior,  soit  par  le  second 
plat,  salon  le  cas.  Tous  les  autres  exemplaires 
originaux  sont  film6s  en  commenpant  par  !a 
premiere  page  qui  comporte  une  empreinte 
d'impression  ou  d'illustration  et  en  terminant  par 
la  dernidre  page  qui  comporte  une  telle 
empreinte. 

Un  des  symboles  suivants  apparaTtra  sur  la 
dernidre  image  de  cheque  microfiche,  selon  le 
can:  le  symbols  — ►  signifie  "A  SUIVRE",  le 
symbols  V  signifie  "FIN". 

Les  cartes,  planches,  tableaux,  etc.,  peuvent  dtre 
filmte  d  des  taux  de  reduction  diff6rents. 
Lorsque  le  document  est  trop  grand  pour  6tre 
reproduit  en  un  seul  clich6,  11  est  filmA  d  partir 
de  Tangle  sup6rieur  gauche,  de  gauche  A  droite, 
et  de  haut  en  bas,  en  prenant  le  nombre 
d'imagas  n6cessaire.  Les  diagrammes  suivants 
illustrent  la  mdthode. 


1 

2 

3 

1  2  3 

4  5  6 


I 


^■S^^BHBIBBI 


LEirS    HOUSE    IN  VINELAND. 


BY 


EBEN  NORTON  HORSFOKD. 


GRAVES  OF  THE  NORTHMEN. 


BY 


CORNELIA    HORSFORD. 


BOSTON: 
D  A  M  R  E  L  L    AND    U  P  H  A  M, 

Zljc  ®lti  Comtt  ISooiutort. 
1898. 


Slmbersits  ^rrss: 
John  Wilson  and  Son,  Cambridge,  U.S  A. 

/Of 


SJUI 


^ma^ 


PREFACE. 


|\/rY  father,  Ebex  Nortox  Horsford,  in  the  last  paragraph  of  '-The 
Landfall  of  Leif  Erikson,"  stated  that  his  next  paper  would  trace 
the  connection  between  the  Northmen  and  the  name  of  the  Western 
Continent. 

At  one  time  I  expected  to  carry  oi't  his  intention ;  but  I  have  since 
decided  that  it  would  be  best  to  publish  the  following  paper  first,  and 
with  it  a  short  account  of  the  investigations  I  myself  have  made  this 
spring,  as  the  latter  may  serve  to  connect  the  two  papers  by  showing  the 
probable  movements  of  the  Northmen  in  this  country  from  the  time  Leif 
Erikson  discovered  Vinelaud  to  the  arrival  of  the  Europeans  at  the  end 
of   the   fifteenth   century. 

I  wish  to  express  my  thanks  to  Mr.  George  G.  Barnum,  the  Secre- 
tary of  the  Bulfalo  Historical  Society,  for  his  kindness  in  sending  me 
pamphlets,  papers,  etc.  Also  to  my  brother-in-law  Mr.  Andrew  Fisk.s. 
for  translating  for  me  a  critical  essay  "  On  the  History  of  tlie  Discovery 
of  America  by  the  Scandinavians,"  by  Eugen  Gelcieh ;  and  to  Dr.  William 
D.  SwAX  for  identifying  for  me  tlie  bones  of  a  deer,  and  for  accom- 
panying me  and  my  sister  on  two  occasions  when  I  examined  the  graves 
in  a  Norumbega  graveyard. 

CORNELIA   HORSFORD. 
CAMBKiD'iR,  June,  1893. 


1^ 


LEIFS    HOUSE    IN    VINELAND. 


' 


T 


ll 


LEIFS    HOUSE   IN    VINELAND. 


TT  is  now  some  six  years  since  I  first  announced  at  a  scientific  gather- 
ing  in  (janibridgo  that  Luif's  Landfall  was  on  a  littln  island  at  the 
summit  of  Cape  Cud,  in  the  opening  of  the  43d  degree.  This  island, 
only  a  few  square  miles  in  area,  is  now  connected  by  drifting  and  blown 
sand  with  the  mainland  near  the  Highland  Light;  but  it  was  distinct 
long  after  Leif's  Landfall,  —  as  observed  by  Cosa  and  Allefonsce  and 
Gosnold,  and  even  in  the  early  part  of  the  eighteenth  century,  as 
shown   on   Lewis's   map. 

At  the  same  mooting.  I  called  attention  to  the  brief  but  clear  statement 
in  the  Saga  of  Eric  the  Red  of  Leif's  sailing'  across  the  mouth  of  Cape  Cod 
Bay,  opening  out  northward  to  the  sea.  from  the  Race  to  the  Gurnet; 
his  coasting  westerly  from  the  Gurnet  along  Scituate  Beach,  past  the 
Cohnsset  rocks  to  Nantasket ;  his  entrance  into  Bo.ston  Harl)or ;  his  running 
aground  on  an  ebb-tide  off  the  site  of  Long  Wharf ;  his  floating  on  the 
returning  flood-tide  np  the  reach,  or  strait,  of  Cliarles  River  into  the 
expansion  of  the  Back  Bay,  the  Hop  of  Thorfinn  (the  old  Norse  name  for 
a  small  land-locked  bay,  salt  at  flood-tide  and  fresh  at  ebb),  and  later 
winding  through  the  salt  meadow  and  marshes  up  the  Charles  beyond 
the  Bay.  to  the  south  end  of  Symonds's  Hill,  at  the  so-called  Gerry's 
Landing  in  Cambridge,  near  which  he  built  his  large  house,  as  indicated 
in  the  details  given  by  Lcif,  Thorwald,  Thorfinn,  and  Freydis. 

"  It  is  this  Bay  aloiiR  a  noitti  and  gnuth  coast  wliicli  remlors  it  impossible  that  Vinelaiid  should 
have  been  rither  in  Nova  Scotia  or  llhode  Islaml.  Why?  Because  bays  along  an  east  and  west  shore, 
facinR  southward,  cannot  open  to  the  north.  Othi'r  considerations  unite  —  as  the  II(5p,  the  Blue  Hills, 
the  times  and  directions  of  sailinj}  —to  fix  the  Viueland  of  Leif  in  the  13d  degree. 


ii 


#i 


g  LKIFS  HOUSE  IN   VIXKLASD. 

At  that  time,  in  1887,  I  took  occasion  to  say  that  if  any  remains  cf 
leif's  hou.e  in  Vincland  .should  ever  be  found,  tlu-y  would  be  found  bet.veen 
Sy,uonds'B  Hill,  the  ancient  blut!  extending  eastward  some  one  hundred 
ynrds  from  the  Cand.ridge  City  Hospital,  and  the  angle  of  the  Cambridge 
City  Cemetery,  about  a  .luarter  of  a  mile  to  tho  aouth. 

I  based  this  prediction  on  the  requirements  of  the  Sagas,  -  winch 
requirements  were  that  the  main  direction  of  the  river  nmst  be  fronx 
west  to  east ;  that  the  site  of  the  house  nnisl  look  out  on  a  promontory 
at  the  south,  from  behind  which  lleets  of  native  canoes  m.ght  have 
issued;  that  canoes  must  be  visible  across  the  meadows  when  the  banks 
of  eight  to  ten  feet  were  full  at  the  beginning  of  tho  ebb-tide ;  hat 
below  ahat  is,  down  stream  from  this  promontory)  nn.st  be  a  bend  m 
the  river,  from  which  the  canoes  could  approach  the  house,  where  the 
river  flowed  from  southeast  to  northwest.  All  this  is  possible  at  the 
site  of  Leifs  house,  and  nowhei  else  on  the  Charles.  Such  a  stretch 
of  obb-tide  from  southeast  to  northwest,  coincident  with  a  general  course 
of   the  river   from  west   to  east,   does   not    occur   cheivhere    in    the  Jorty 

third  degree.  .  m     m     i 

The  place  where  Leif  landed  is  the  first  place,  coming  up  the  Charles, 
^vhere  landing  on  an  even  keel,  permitting  a  plank  to  be  run  out  to  the 
shore,  was  possible.  It  was  the  spot  determined  for  Cerry'.s  Landing, - 
the  great  point  in  the  earlier  days  of  the  colony  for  receiving  goods  from 
the  sea  and  transporting  them  in  wagons  to  the  interior.  It  is  from  the 
site  of  Leifs  house  that  the  only  landing  of  Thorfinn's  ship,  on  his  re- 
turn from  seeking  Thorhall,  on  the  southwest  bank  of  an  incoming  stream 

is  possible.  ,     , 

Now  in  this  region  are  traces  of  large  houses,  some  nearer,  some  farther, 
from  the  water;  of  huts,  of  fish-pits,  and  of  canals, -all  mentioned  in  the 
Sa.^as  Here  also  have  been  found  fragments  of  soapstone  bowls,  such  as 
we'Je  used  by  the  Northmen;  stone  salmon-sinkers,  such  as  were  needed  for 
the  salmon-fishing  mentioned  in  the  Sagas.  Near  I^ifs  house  has  been 
found,  buried  in  the  earth,  a  small  marble  cup  deeply  corroded.     Iron  nn- 


\ 


0 

■f 


^ 

V 


) 

'ft 


♦•AAXV.\V> 


) 


L^. 


I  n 


J  I  ic     iU  SIR  J  I 


-|^ 


i^' 


fr< 


"U 


I 

-5 


\\ 


i. 


i 


LEIFS  HOUSE  IN   VINELAND. 


9 


plements  were  not  to  be  looked  for ;  but  remains  of  a  house,  even  after  nine 
hundred  years,  might  be  found  if  one  knew  what  to  look  for.  Fortunately 
Scandinavian  literature  tells  us  what  to  look  for,  and  what  to  expect. 

Here  is  a  sketch  (page  10)  of  the  outlines  of  Leif's  house,  —  or,  for  the 
present,  let  us  say  a  house  on  the  spot  where,  according  to  the  Sagas,  Leif 
must  have  built  one.  I  say  imist,  because  the  combinations  of  relative 
positions,  movements  of  tides,  topography,  artificial  structures,  to  which 
description  dating  back  nine  hundred  years  fits  to-day,  without  a  wanting 
elerae-it,  cannot  apply  to  two  groups  of  entities.  A  little  reflection  will 
satisfy  the  candid  mind  on  this  point. 

Take  the  following  illustration  :  Conceive  a  set  of  .  ubical  blocks,  each 
having  a  letter  of  the  alphabet  on  one  side,  to  be  drr.wn  by  a  blind  man 
from  a  bag,  and  appearing  in  the  succession,  A,  B,  C,  D,  raid  so  '  to  the 
end,  with  the  letters  on  the  top  as  he  laid  them  down.  Nov,  it  is  impossible 
to  resist  the  conviction  that  the  alphabetic  succession  was  determined  by  a 
necessity.  Add  the  lettered  face  on  the  top  of  each  block,  and  the  correct 
position  of  all  the  letters,  and  how  overwhelming  the  demonstration! 

So  is  it,  I  conceive,  in  the  case  of  the  locality  of  Leif's  house.  I  long 
ago  found  one  end  cf  the  chain,  which  drew  out  the  picture  described  in 
the  Sagas. 

But  let  us  see  what  confirmation  the  examination  of  the  remains  of  a 
house  found  where  Leif's  must  have  been,  has  brought. 


The  accompanying  sketch  (page  10)  has  been  prepared  by  the  City  Engi- 
neer (who  himself  made  the  survey),  from  a  sketch  by  Mi.ss  Cornelia  Hor.sford. 
It  is  the  result  of  an  effort  to  show  the  slight  unevennesses,  which  scarcely 
exceed  one  foot  in  altitude  in  extreme  variation.  The  outline  of  the  hou.«e 
will  be  seen  to  be  a  tolerably  regular  parallelogram.  The  Charles  River 
Bank  at  a  distance  of  less  than  a  hundred  feet  will  be  ."een  in  the  accom- 
panying map  of  the  region  round  about.  The  lines  of  connecting  little 
squares  indicate  the  enclosing  fence  of  stone  posts  and  iron  rods:  it  is 
some  seventy-five    by  twenty-five   feet.     The   long  side  toward  the  top  of 


1 


fLjflf?  OF  SITE 

or 

-'0ETMMENS  it  AM 

AMP  SETTLE 


T 


;•, 


_=^f) 


HcuwYn  ranmia  c.  anna 


10 


LEirS  HOUSE  IN  VINELAND. 


the  cut  faces  south,  —  a  uniform  but  not  invariable  characteristic  of 
peasants'  houses  in  Icehmd.*  The  whole  surface  is  covered  with  turf, 
which  in  the  early  spring  betrays  the  irregularities  v/ith  much  distinct- 
ness. As  the  length  of  the  grass  increases,  obscurity  of  the  outlines 
increases  with  it. 

Near  the  tablet  is  a  semi-circular  ridge,  salient  from  the  end  of  the  house 
toward  the  river.     As  the  Saga  mentioned  that  the  house  was  both  fenced 


SKeleT?  of  Site  ef  "Leifi  "HeXise 
al  Geppy's  Lnndirig. 


Gea.Jfar/s  C£. 


-tJ  P--1  LIjJII.  l|IH.,.W,tl 

CDczjoacScDa  """*- 

KcMndation  iwdll       J        


^iSv*" 


3J  U  ¥.-  Fireplace 

gl  '■^^.w;.ji|;;?.:!i;K-'i*"''''iii;iiiiift«i'.t"'%^,-,, 

^^  „> .-'•"%,        ri    Wan        '■■*''^.     • 

S\  i-  '>"'\SfS^ »    Q  ^. 


»  -^: 


0 


-o- 


0 


A.B.CUEf.O.Paiils  where  eutcavntums  were  -made 
Scflle  loft.laanincli. 


I     CliarcoRl 

i -3  Large  «lone«  beslrte  doorway 

K-  J^ft.tounrtislurbed  enrth 

5-iHe.irth.  fiaved  '«  ft.  across  I  ft.  below  •«rf«ce 

6  -  Arrow  he«ds  found   J  ft.  down 

7  -  Tablet.  On  this  spolintheyear  looo  Leif  Ericsanbujllhishouse  in  Vineland 


about  and  fortified  (one  would  think  for  the  better  protection  of  Gudrid  and 
her  little  child),  it  was  conceivable  that  this  curved  outline  marked  the  place 
of  the  fortification.  It  was  an  outlook  commanding  the  river  up  and  down. 
Here  was  something  like  a  breastwork  of  earth,  and  perhaps  wooden  coping. 
I  dug  out  the  area  behind,  down  to  undisturbed  earth,  —  about  four  feet. 
This  pit  would  give  shelter  from  arrows  of  horizontal  flight.     They  might 

'  See  Saga  Time. 


LEIF'S  HOUSE  IN   VINELAND. 


11 


have  reached  tlio  interior  in  a  plunging  flight.  Two  such -one  perfect 
—  were  found  within,  at  a  depth  of  about  three  and  a  half  feet.  Without, 
and  immediately  in  front  of  the  salient,  arrow  and  spear  points  have  been 
found  in  excavation.  The  arrow-points  were  identical  in  form,  shape,  and 
size  with  the  perfect  one  found  within.  No  spear-points  were  found  within ; 
but  elsewhere  spear-points  and  arrow-points,  identical  in  form,  have  been 
found  together  and  in  great  numbers,  on  what  were  considered  by  Mr.  Frank 
Hamilton  Gushing  to  be  battle-fields. 

It  is  well  known  that  there  was  in  relatively  modern  times  a  store- 
house at  Gerry's  Landing ;  and  it  might  be  expected  that  the  remains  of  any 
imperishable  articles,  and  of  freight  landed  and  reloaded,  might  be  found, 
but  of  course  nearer  the  present  surface.  This  has  been  the  case.  I  liave' 
found  chips  of  broken  bricks  and  fragments  of  earthenware.  The  latter 
were  glazed.     They  could  not  have  been  Norse.^ 

I  dug  a  trench  through  the  semi-circular  ridge,  but  found  only  gravel. 
On  the  south  side  of  the  outline  and  near  the  salient  was  a  marked  depres- 
sion,  as  if  there  had  been  a  door.  If  there  were  door-posts,  they  should  have 
had  something  to  stand  on.  On  digging  down  a  foot  or  more  on  either 
side  of  the  doorway,  a  boulder  of  two  thirds  of  a  bushel-basket  capacity 
was  found. 

The  outline  of  the  house  of  logs  horizontally  resting  each  upon  that 
below  —  as  is  the  case  of  Norwegian  houses  and  of  early  settlers  here  — 
might  be  expected  to  have  rested  on  stones,  as  a  protection  against  decay 
of  the  lowermost  logs.  Such  stone  foundations  were  found,  in  probing 
the  ground  with  an  iron  rod,  at  a  depth  of  about  a  foot,  and  were  at 
various  points  uncovered,  as  shown  in  the  cut.  Such  construction  prevails 
throughout  Norway  to^iay,  not  alone  among  the  dwellings  of  the  peasants, 
but  in  the  more  pretentious  houses  of  the  towns,  —  as  in  Stavanger,  Bergen,' 
and  Christianla. 

Outside  of  the  lines  of  the  cut  at  B,  C,  and  2),  one  remarks  at  a  little 
distance  a  slight  declivity,   which   seems   continuous.     It   does   not   seem 

'  The  art  of  glnzin-  vvjus  unknown  to  Scandinavia.     See  Du  Chaillu  and  Montelius. 


12 


LEIF'S  HOUSE  IN  VJNELAXD. 


improbable  that  this  is  what  remains  of  the  stockade  referred  to  in  the 
expression  "  fenced  round  about,"  and  "  threw  their  bundles  of  furs  over 
the  paling." 

Thorfinn  came  in  the  time  of  young  corn-plants.  Later  he  built  the 
stockade.     The  Saga  says  :  — 

"  It  now  behooves  to  relate  that  Karlsefni  had  a  strong  stockade  made  about  his 
building,  and  fortified  the  place.  At  this  time  Gudrid  his  wife  gave  birth  to  a  male 
child,  and  this  boy  was  named  Snorri.  .  .  .  Early  the  next  winter  the  Slcracliings 
came  to  them,  having  bundles  of  furs  and  clothing  of  siiins  [all  kinds  of  peltry  to 
barter.  Karlsefni  had  milk  and  dairy  products  brought  out  to  excliange ;  but  they 
wanted  weapons  instead].     They  threw  their  bundles  inside  the  stockade."  * 

These  passages  are  explicit.  There  was  a  continuous  row  of  uprij^ht 
posts  round  the  house,  and  near  it.  *'  They  threw  their  bundles  inside  the 
paling  ;  "  that  is,  the  stockade.  The  expression  "  fortified  tlie  place  "  would 
apply  well  to  the  narrow  curved  ridge  which  looks  out  from  the  east  end 
of  the  house  upon  the  river,  both  up  and  down.  Behind  this  curved  ridge 
there  was  the  pit,  some  four  feet  below  the  level :  excavation  to  undisturbed 
earth  sliowed  it.  The  ridge  and  the  pit  offered  defence,  and  provided  a 
sheltered  outlook. 

Besides  these  features,  there  are  two  points  of  special  significance  in 
connection  with  the  appointments  of  the  long  house,  pointed  out  as  charac- 
teristic of  Norse  houses  in  "  Saga  Time,"  and  of  dwelling-houses  in  the 
country  of  Norway  to-day,  and  of  the  cuts  of  the  foundations  of  houses 
given  in  Baron  Nordenskjfild's  second  expedition  to  Greenland.  Such  houses 
are  indicated  in  the  term  "  lunga  villa  "  on  the  maps  of  Hieronymus  Ver- 
razano  and  MaioUo,  of  the  expedition  of  1524,  and  on  the  copper  globe 
of  Ulpius  in  the  library  of  the  Historical  Society  of  New  York.'* 

The  fir.st  of  these  features  is  the  firqjJaoe  of  small  boulders  in  the  centre 
of  the  house.     An  ancient  Norse  house  required  it.     The  ancient  houses  of 

'  The  entrance  to  thf  house  was  obviously  closed. 

^  That  this  is  the  type  of  the  house  of  the  Iroquois,  the  Ho-de-oh-saunee  of  Morgan,  is  of  the 
widest  reach  as  an  ethnological  fact,  which  I  have  elsewhere  discussed,  but  which  canuot  be  entered 
upon  here. 


LEIFS   HOUSE  m  VINELAND. 


18 


the  Highlanders  of  Scotland '  have  them  still.  So  assured  was  I  that  this 
characteristic  of  the  house  would  be  found,  that  I  announced  it  to  the  work- 
men, who  of  course  showed  becoming  incredulity.  I  told  them  that  if  they 
would  dig  a  trench  along  the  middle  of  the  house  they  would  uncover  a 
fireplace.  The  turf  and  blown  sand  were  a  foot  thick.  I  indicated  the  spot 
where  the  hearth  would  be  found.  My  prediction  was  verified.  An  area  of 
about  four  feet  in  diameter,  covered  by  boulders,  was  exposed.  Some  were 
whole,  fine-grained,  and  compact,  preserving  their  original  shape,  but  pitted 
at  the  surface  as  if  they  had  been  exposed  to  prolonged  heat ;  others  were 
cracked  into  several  pieces  ;  others  still,  being  originally  fissile  gneiss  or 
finely  stratified  sand  and  argillaceous  material,  were  resolved  into  thin  frag- 
ments like  slate.  One  of  the  blocks  that  had  preserved  its  general  form, 
but  with  all  its  angles  rounded,  was  observed  to  be  of  dull  red,  as  if  covered 
with  reddish  brown  rouge.  I  said,  "  If  this  redness  is  due  to  peroxide  of  iron, 
I  .shall  find  the  interior  of  a  grceni.sh  shade,  —  due  to  the  presence  of  mineral 
combinations  of  protoxide  of  iron."  A  lapidary  cut  the  stone  into  thin  slices. 
As  I  expected,  in  the  interior  where,  though  heated,  it  had  been  protected 
from  the  air,  the  color  was  of  a  dull  bottle-green.  The  belt  of  outer  surface, 
where  it  had  been  heated  and  cxjwml  to  tlio  air,  was  reddish  brown.  Char- 
coal was  found,  as  might  have  been  expected,  at  the  border  of  the  hearth 
at  (1)  in  the  plan. 

The  second  feature  is  the  raised  terrace,  indicated  in  the  shading,  against 
the  fireplace,  and  extending  on  the  south  side  from  near  the  doorway  half 
down  the  length  of  the  house. 

It  is  well  known  that,  lio«'ever  humble  the  Norse  habitation  (and  it 
is  as  true  alike  of  their  ancient  kinsfolk  the  Gaels, — Scotch  Highlanders), 
there  is  always  an  apartment  for  the  women  separated  by  partition  from 
the  general  interior.  Such  an  arrangement  is,  as  I  conceive,  indicated 
in  this  feature  of  the  remains  of  Leif's  house.  This  apartment  was  not 
nepdcd  for  Leif,  or  for  Thorwald  who  succeeded  him,  whoso  companions 
were  wholly  men  ;    but   it  was  set  up   for  Gudrid,  the  wife  of  Thorfinn, 

'  .See  "  Scots  of  the  Northmen." 


14 


LEIFS   HOUSE   IN   VINELAND. 


who   succeeded   Thorwald.     There   seems   to  be  another  narrow   platform 
more  distant  from  the  door.     May  it  have  been  for  Gudrld's  maid  ? 

This  house,  with  the  Norse  hearth,  is  in  the  region  of  tiie  hsli-pits  and 
traces  of  huts  which  I  have  elsewhere  described,  and  of  what  1  conceive 
to  have  been  the  large  double-house  of  Thorfinn's  larger  party,  and  in  the 
centre  of  the  unique  topography  described  in  the  Sagas,  in  the  latitude 
42°  20'.' 


11 


s*  «- 


I  do  not  propose  to  exhaust  this  archaeological  field,  but  to  leave  to  others 
the  pleasure  of  unveiling  new  evidences  of  ancient  works  and  early  settle- 
njents  which  are  still  undisturbed  in  the  immediate  neighborhood.  I  have  so 
far  carefully  guarded  against  the  obliteration  of  any  features  of  the  surface,  so 
that  all  that  is  left  to  us  of  the  superficial  expression  may  be  preserved. 

There  is  an  indefinitely  large  field  for  archaeological  research  await- 
ing the  student  who  is  willing  to  work,  and  who  will  be  certain  to  secure 
great  satisfaction  in  discoveries.  I  have  described  a  part  only  of  what 
I  have  found.  There  is  vastly  more  for  the  patient  student  to  discover 
for  himself. 

If  the  discoverer  publish  an  account  of  what  he  finds,  he  will  be 
quite  certain  to  make  mistaken  inferences,  and  the  critics  will  not  permit 
him  to  forget  it.  At  this,  however,  he  must  not  be  dismayed.  It  was  a 
great  and  good  master  who  gave  consolation  to  one  who  was  deploring  a 
mistake  in  judgment,  in  tiiese  terms :  "  Do  not  be  troubled  ;  men  who  do 
not  work  make  no  mistakes." 

I  do  not  enter  upon  the  detailed  account  of  the  other  remains  in  the 
immediate  neighborhood,  —  as  the  fish-pits ;  a  mound  with  a  depression  on 
tlie  top,  or  it  may  be  the  remains  of  a  tower;  the  traces  of  hut.",  and 
of  what  I  have  regarded  as  the  large  house  of  Thorfinn  ;  the  details  of 
the  boom-dams  and  the  submerged  forest ;  the  canals ;  the  battle-field 
where  Thorbrand  fell.  I  have  scarcely  more  than  alluded  to  these  remains 
in  earlier  publications. 

>  See  "  Landfall  of  Leif  Erikson." 


THE  GRAVES  OF  THE  NORTHMEN. 


|i 


:S 


THE  GRAVES  OF  THE  NORTHMEN. 


jyj  Y  father  —  Eden  Norton  Horsford  —  called  me  to  him  the  last  night 
of  the  year  eighteen  hundred  and  ninety-two,  to  talk  about  the 
traces  of  the  houses  on  the  banks  of  the  Charles  River,  built  by  the  party 
of  Thorfmn  Karlsefni  and  Snorri  Thorbrandson,  two  Icelanders,  who 
came  from  Greenland  in  three  ships,  with  one  hundred  and  sixty  men 
and  their  live-stock,  intending  to  establish  a  colony  in  Vineland  the  Good, 
a  few  years  after  Leif  Erikson  had  discovered  that  country  in  the  year 
1000  A.  I). 

My  father  had  already  examined  the  remains  of  the  house  built  by  Leif 
Erikson,  as  described  in  the  preceding  paper.  He  asked  me.  "  What  will 
you  find  in  Thorfinn's  house,  if  I  found  a  fireplace  in  Leif's  house? 
And  if  I  found  foundations  for  walls  at  Leif's  house,  what  will  you  find 
to  correspond  with  them  at  Thorfinn's  house  ? "  Then  he  told  me  to  buy 
the  land  myself,  and  in  the  spring,  when  the  frost  was  out  of  the  ground, 
to  get  an  iron  rod  and  strike  it  into  the  earth  to  find  the  fireplace ;  and 
afterwards  to  find  the  foundation  walls  in  the  same  way,  —  because  he 
wanted  me  to  have  the  pleasure  of  making  a  discovery  myself. 

The  next  night,  the  first  evening  of  the  New  Year,  I  asked  my  mother's 
permission  to  finish  and  edit  my  father's  unpublished  works,  and  was  com- 
forted with  the  promise  that  I  might  do  that  service  for  him. 

During  the  long  days  and  evenings  which  followed,  while  the  ground 
was  still  covered  with  snow,  I  read  many  books  about  the  Northmen  and 
their  customs,  to  learn  what  I  might  hope  to  find  when  the  time  came 
in  the  spring  for  me  to  look  for  the  remains  of  Thorfinn's  long  house 
on   the   bank   of   the   river.     I   remembered   Longfellow's   poem  of   "The 


5*1 
I 


18 


TIIK  ORAVES  OK  THE  NOUTHMEN. 


Skeleton  in  Armor,"  —  its  romance,  its  mystery,  its  charming  impossibility. 
I  wished  I  might  lind  a  skeleton  in  armor. 

On  page  18  of  Arthur  Middlutou  Reeves's  "The  Finding  of  Wineland 
the  Good,"  I  found  an  extract  from  tlu'  Eyrhyggja  Saga,  the  vellum 
manuscript  of  which  is  in  the  Ducal  Lihniry  of  Woifcnblittel.  It  is  not 
one  of  the  so-cahed  Vineland  Sagas.     The  extract  reads  as  follows;  — 

"After  the  reconciliation  between  .'^tcinthor  and  the  people  of  Aipta-lirtli,  Tlior- 
brand's  sons,  Snorri  and  Tliorleif  Kiuiiji,  went  to  (Jreenland.  From  liiin  Kiiiiha- 
firth  0"  ^'I'cenland)  gets  its  name.  Tliorleif  Kimbi  lived  in  Greenland  to  old 
npc.  But  Snorri  went  to  Wineland  the  (!oo(l  with  K  :lsefiii;  and  when  they  were 
fighting  with  the  .'^kivUings  there  in  Winelund,  Tliorbrand  Snorrason,  a  most  valiant 
man,  was  killed." 

And  on  page  48  of  the  Saga  of  Thoriinn  Karlsefni  and  Snorri  Thor- 
brandson  1  read  that  during  a  battle  with  the  Skraellings  Freydis  '*  found 
a  dead  man  in  front  of  her.  This  was  Tliorbrand.  Snorri's  son,  his  skull 
cleft  by  a  flat  stone.  His  naked  sword  lay  beside  him  ;  she  took  it  up 
and  prepared  to  defend  herself  with  it." 

So  a  man  —  a  valiant  man,  the  son  of  one  of  the  two  leaders  of  the 
expedition  —  was  killed  in  Vineland  ;  and  if  his  skeleton  could  be  found, 
his  skull  would  bo  cleft  by  the  stone  which  caused  his  death.  But  where 
could  it  be  found  ? 

In  Du  Chaillu's  ••  Viking  Age  "  I  read  of  the  wonders  of  the  archaeology 
of  the  North.  —  how  the  spade  has  developed  the  history  of  Scandinavia, 
together  with  the  Saga  and  Edda  literature.  I  give  a  few  selections 
from  it :  — 

'•'Odin  eiKicted  the  same  liiws  in  his  land  as  had  formerly  prevailed  with  the 
Asar.  Thus  he  ordered  that  all  dead  men  should  be  burned,  and  on  their  pyre 
should  1)0  placed  their  property.  He  said  thus,  —  that  witb  the  same  amount  of 
wealth  they  sliould  come  to  Valhalla  as  they  bad  on  the  pyre;  that  they  should  also 
enjoy  what  they  had  themselves  buried  in  the  ground,  but  the  ashes  should  be  thrown 
into  the  sea,  or  buried  In  the  earth  ;  that  over  great  men  inounds  should  be  raised 
as  niPinorials,  and  ovoi  iiu  o  w'  >  bad  .som.'  nianfulness  hauta»teinar  should  be 
erected.    And  this  cujiom  was  oiiderved  for  a  long  time.'     (Ynglinga  Saga,  c.  8.) 


TIIK   (;HAVKS  OK  TIIK   NORTHMEN 


10 


"'  It  was  the  ciiBtoin  of  powerful  men,  whether  kln^H  or  jarls,  at  that  time  to  Icorn 
warfare,  nnd  win  wealth  mid  fame;  that  [iroperty  hIhjiiIiI  not  he  "'ountetl  with  the 
Inheritaiiee,  nor  hIiduIiI  mun  ^et  it  after  fathcrH,  but  it  should  bo  placed  iu  the 
mound  with  thi  msclveH,'     (  VatuHdaelo,  21.) 

"'Tho  fimt  age  ia  culled  the  ago  of  buiniug;  then  all  dead  men  were  burned, 
and  bantaHti.noH  ruiHcd  after  them.  lint  after  Frey  had  ln-en  inouad-lu!d  at  UppHalir, 
many  chiefs  raised  nmundH  an  well  as  bauta»toneH  to  Mie  memory  of  their  kinHmen. 
Afterwards  King  Don  the  I'roud  had  his  own  mound  maile,  and  bade  that  he,  and 
also  his  horso  with  the  saddle  on,  and  miieh  property,  should  bo  carried  to  it  when 
dead  in  king's  state  and  in  wur-drcsa.  >[any  of  hit)  kinsinen  did  thi;  same  afterwards, 
and  the  mouud-age  began  in  Denmark.  But  the  burning  age  lasted  a  long  time 
after  that  with  the  Northmen  and  the  .'>\ved(  s.'     (Prologue  of  Ileiniskringla.) 

'"The  first  ago  was  tlio  one  when  all  deod  men  were  to  be  burnt.  Then  the 
miiinid-agc  began,  when  all  |iowerful  n.'u  were  laid  in  mounds  and  all  common 
people  buried  in  tho  groimil.'     (Saint  Olaf's  Saga.     Prologue.) 

" '  On  tho  following  morning  Hrolf  had  tho  field  cleared,  and  divided  tho  booty 
omong  hin  men.  There  were  rais.  '  hivo  very  largo  mounds.  In  one,  Ilrolf  placed 
his  father,  Stiu'laug,  and  Krdk,  llrafn's  brother,  and  all  the  best  champions  of  their 
host  who  had  fallen.  In  that  mound  were  [lut  gold  and  silver  and  good  weapons,  and 
all  was  well  performed.  In  tho  second  was  placed  King  Eirik,  Brynj('.lf,  and  Thcird,  and 
their  picked  men.  In  tin-  third  was  (Jrim  Aegir,  near  the  shore,  where  it  was  thought 
least  likely  that  .nhips  would  approach.  The  warriors  were  buriet!  where  they  had 
fallen.'"     ((iiingu  Ilrolf's  Saga,  ch.  34.) 

Since  Tiiorbrand  was  a  man  of  power,  over  him  surely  a  mound  ought 
to  have  been  raised.' 

But  what  was   tlii.s    property  which  Odin  said  should  ho  I)uried  in  the 

mounds  with  tlie  dead?     Vessels  of  cky,  of  gold,  of  silver,  and  of  glasti ; 

bronze    kettles,   vases,  glass    beads,  amber    beads,  mo.saic    beads,  bracelets, 

knives,  rings,    buckles,  and    iiljula! ;    hundreds    and    thousands   of   Roman 

coins,  and  bronze  articles  of  Roman  workmanship  ;  ornaments  of  gold  and 

silver  ;    harness  mountings,  spurs,  bits,  fine  swords,  .spears,  axes,  ring-armor, 

•  The  reasons  why  Helgi,  Kimibogi,  and  those  of  their  party  who  were  killed,  should  not  have 
lioen  moiiiid-liiid,  mo  obvious.  Tho  inau  who  fell  in  the  same  battle  wi.th  Thorbrand  may  have  been 
buried  with  him. 


i 


ij^'l 


i\ 


20 


THE  GRAVES  OF   THE   NORTIIMEX. 


helmets,  drinking-horns,  etc., —  all  these  are  illustrated  in  the  "Viking 
Age."     Tlie  account  reads  like  a  story  from  the  Arabian  Nights. 

Tiiorbrand's  sword,  then,  would  have  been  baried  with  him,  —  the  one 
with  which  Freydis  struck  herself  when  she  terrified  the  Skraellingp  so  that 
they  ran  down  to  their  boats  and  rowed  away. 

I  ought  here  to  tell  my  readers  that  a  circular  mound  twenty-three 
feet  in  diameter  and  about  two  feet  high,  on  what  I  suppose  to  be  the 
battle-ground  of  the  fight  between  the  Northmen  and  iiie  Skraellings,  spoken 
of  in  my  father's  paper,  had  already  aroused  my  curiosity.  Thorbrand 
the  Valiant  may  have  been  buried  where  he  fell. 

After  this  I  began  to  read  II.  R.  Schoolcraft's  large  and  beautifully 
illustrated  "History,  Condition,  and  Prospects  of  the  Indian  Tribes  of 
the  United  States."  I  was  looking  for  something  quite  different,  when  I 
stopped  to  think  over  the  following  sentence:  "This  idea,  wherever 
the  ancient  inhabitants  of  America  came  from,  is  indelibly  imprinted 
on  the  character  of  the  burial-mounds."  Could  these  burial-mounds, 
so  like  those  I  had  been  studying  a  few  days  before,  have  been  made 
by  the  Northmen,  or  the  descendants  of  Northmen?  Du  Chaillu 
says : — 

"Every  tumulu.s  described  by  antiquaries  as  a  Saxdii  or  Frankisli  grave  is  the 
counterpart  of  a  Xorthcm  irrave,  thus  showing  conclusively  the  common  origin  of 
the  people. 

"  Wlierovcr  graves  of  (lie  same  type  are  found  in  other  emintries,  we  have  the 
invariable  testimony  either  of  the  Roman  or  Greek  writers,  of  the  Frankisli  and 
English  Chronicles,  or  of  the  Sagas,  to  show  that  the  people  of  the  North  liad  been 
in  the  country  at  one  time  or  anotlier. 

"  The  conclusion  is  forced  u]ion  us  that  in  time  tlif  North  became  over-populated, 
and  an  outlet  was  necessary  for  the  spread  of  its  people. 

"Tlie  story  of  (lie  North  is  that  of  all  countries  whose  inhabitants  have  spread 
and  conquered,  in  order  to  find  now  fields  for  their  eiierL^y  and  over-population.  In 
fact,  the  very  course  the  progenitors  of  the  English-speaking  peoples  adopted  in  tliose 
days  is  i)rccisely  the  one  wliieh  has  been  followed  liy  their  descendants  in  England 
and  other  countries  for  the  last  three  hundred  years." 


■ 


THE  GRAVES  OF  THE  NCmTHMEN. 


21 


Vicary  in  ''  Saga  Time"  writes  of  these  graves :  — 

"  They  are  found  in  the  southeast  of  Norway,  North  Germany,  and  extend  to  the 
Gulf  of  Riga,  They  are  in  numbers  by  the  Vistula.  They  occur  in  Holland,  Belgium, 
England,  Ireland,  the  Channel  Islands,  France,  Spain,  and  Portugal.  There  are  a  few 
in  Switzerland,  near  the  Jura  Mountains ;  also  in  Italy,  Corsica,  and  Sardinia.  In 
North  Africa  they  are  very  numerous,  to  eighty  miles  from  the  coast.  They  are 
found  in  the  Alorea,  Crimea,  and  the  shores  of  the  Black  Sea.  It  is  to  be  noted, 
speaking  in  a  broad  sense,  that  the  stendosar  are  near  the  sea-coast  or  a  river's  bank." 

Why  may  they  not  have  spread  over  America  too,  —  Vineland  and 
Norumbega  being  the  gateway  to  their  new  world  ? 

At  this  time  I  received  the  annual  Report  of  the  Board  of  Managers  of 
the  Buffalo  Historical  Society.  Among  the  list  of  gifts  to  the  Society  was 
that  of  Coroner  H.  B.  Ransom,  consisting  of  a  skull,  two  leg-bones,  and 
other  relics  of  human  anatomy,  together  with  two  brass  kettles,  —  all  being 
but  a  small  part  of  the  '•  find  "  by  some  workmen  while  excavating  for  a 
new  street  near  the  Buffalo  Creek,  where  Clinton  Street  crosses  the  city  line. 
The  Report  says :  "'  The  relics  are  beyond  doubt  the  remains  of  the  ancient 
Kaw  Kwahs,  a  portion  of  the  Neutral  Nation,  which  became  extinct  some- 
what over  two  hundred  years  ago." 

I  wrote  to  the  Secretary  of  the  Society.  Mr.  George  G.  Barnum.  and 
asked  for  photographs  of  these  brass  kettles,  to  see  if  they  were  like  any 
of  the  kettles  illustrated  in  the  ''  Viking  Age." 

Mr.  Barnum  promised  to  send  me  the  photographs.  At  the  same  time 
he  sent  me  a  small  pamphlet  entitled  '•  Interesting  Arcliajological  Studies  in 
and  about  Buffalo,"  by  William  Clement  Bryant.  On  the  eighth  page  of 
this  book  the  first  paragraph  startled  me,  as  it  will  any  one  who  has  read 
the  books  by  Eben  Norton  Ilorsford  about  the  settlements  of  the  Northmen 
on  the  Charles  River.'     T  quote  from  tliis  and  from  following  pages  :  — 

"  The  State  of  New  York,  and  particularly  its  central  and  western  portions,  as  my 
audience  are  well  aware,  al)ounds  in  tunudi  and  defensive  earthen  intrenchments  or 

'  See  "  Problem  of  theXoithmeii,"  "  Discovery  of  the  .ViicieiitCity  of  Norumbega,"  and  ■•  Defences 
of  Noriiinbi'ga." 


22 


THE   <;RAVES  of   the   NORTIIMEX. 


fortifications.  When  the  doomed  red  man  sullenly  retired,  and  the  triumphant  pale 
face,  axc-on-shouldcr,  came  upon  the  scene,  these  ancient,  silent  mounds  and  moats, 
lying  in  the  heart  of  the  damp  and  columned  woods,  i)uzzled  the  curious  pioneer. 
His  posterity,  in  the  most  filial  spirit,  have  gone  on  puzzling  about  them  ever  since. 

"  Erie  and  Jefferson  counties,  according  to  Squier,  possess  a  larger  number  of 
these  ancient  works  than  any  other  equal  extent  of  territory  in  the  State.  There  are 
over  forty  in  this  county  alone.  Although  many  of  them  have  Iteeu  obliterated  by 
the  plow,  a  few  remain  in  such  a  condition  as  to  admit  cf  their  being  accurately 
traced  and  surveyed. 

"  One  of  these  '  ring  forts '  was  located  within  the  boundaries  of  our  city,  and 
embraces  the  '  Old  Indian  Burial  Ground  '  at  East  Uuffalo.  A  i)lau  of  it  can  be 
found  in  Schoolcraft's  '  Notes  on  the  Iroquois.'  When  1  first  saw  it,  thirty  years  ago, 
a  portion  of  the  encircling  mounds  and  moat  was  clearly  defined.  Tliey  have  since 
become  indistinguishable. 

"  The  origin  of  these  remains  has  been  the  subject  of  learned  controversy.  By 
some  they  have  been  attributed  to  the  mound-builders,  oi'  some  congener  of  that  almost 
mythological  people. 

"  The  settlements  of  the  Erics  extended  as  near  to  our  locality  as  the  Cattaraugus 
Creek.  A  Sew  years  since,  in  company  witli  my  Seneca  friend  Nick  Parker,  I  visited 
the  site  of  an  Erie  villasre  situated  on  the  cicst  of  a  hill,  — one  of  the  range  which 
shuts  in  the  valley  on  the  north  or  Erie  County  side,  and  about  six  or  seven  miles 
from  where  the  creek,  or  more  properly  river,  empties  into  Lake  Erie.  Near  by  \\ere  the 
cabins  of  the  tun  Indian  jiroprictors  of  the  farms  we  were  visiting,- — Uutli  Stevenson, 
the  step-daughter  of  Red  Jacket;  and  Rev.  Mr.  Silverheels,  a  lay  preacher.  The 
evidences  of  ancient  Indian  occupancy  were  very  abundant.  The  first  objects  wiiieh 
rewarded  my  seareli  were  two  earthen  pipes,  a  portion  of  the  stems  fractured,  but  the 
bowls  intact  and  artistically  moulded  in  the  shape  of  the  Neutral.s'  or  Cat  totem,  a 
raccoon  I  .  .  .  We  also  found  a  banner-stone  gorget,  several  brass  or  bronze  arrow- 
heads, a  neatly  chiselled  hammer-stone  ('.'),  and  innumerable  fragments  of  pottery. 
.  .  .  Mr.  Silverheels  told  me  that  when  the  ."^oneeas  first  settled  in  this  region  the 
laud  was  covered  by  a  den.se  forest,  and  that  running  along  the  brow  of  the  hill  from 
till'  lake,  several  miles  u]i  the  <'reek,  wps  a  well-defined  ditch  or  moat,  the  exterior 
wall  iif  which  was  elevated  several  feet  abov(>  the  surrounding  surface. 


THE  GRAVES  OF  THE  NOKTHMEN. 


23 


"  Let  us  ijause  here,  and  fiivo  a  few  moments'  consideration  to  the  question,  What 
race  constructed  these  ancient  defensive  worlds  ni  western  and  central  New  Yori?  ? 
Although  built  on  a  much  humbler  scale,  and  without  any  traces  of  a  religious  or 
mythological  purpose,  they  suggest  and  bear  a  famt  likeness  to  tlic  august  monuments 
of  tlie  mound-builders.  It  is  worthy  of  remark,  too,  that  as  a  rule  these  fortified 
villages  lay  on  or  near  the  several  watercourses  leading  into  the  heart  of  the  country 
occupied  by  that  enigmatical  race.  Our  primitive  po])ulation  utilized  these  natural 
highways,  preferring  to  glide  down  or  paddle  up  a  river,  in  their  birchen  canoes,  to 
the  more  toilsome  method  of  threading  in  their  moccasin,  the  damji  and  smuous 
forest  trails. 

"  The  Indians  who  inhabited  this  country  at  the  time  of  the  discovery  ought,  one 
would  think,  to  know  something  about  the  origin  and  history  of  these  ancient  remains, 
for  their  antiquity  is  not  great  as  time  is  reckoned  in  old-world  clironicles.  The 
testimony  of  the  Indians,  however,  if  it  have  any  weight  as  to  the  origin  of  these 
works,  would  deprive  their  ancestors  of  the  credit  of  their  construction.  With  a 
singular  unanimity  they  declare  that  these  ancient  intrenchmcnts  were  the  product  of 
a  race  who  preceded  them  in  the  occupancy  of  the  country,  and  wlio  were  not  Indians. 
It  is  remarkable  that  natives  so  intelligent  as  Brant,  Seneca  White,  and  other.s,  as 
well  as  the  captive  Mary  Jemison,  should  have  evinced  so  lively  an  interest  in  the 
subject,  as  it  is  well  known  they  did,  and  yet  have  to  confess  their  total  ignorance 
about  their  origin  and  purpose.  It  would  seem  that  the  captive  Neutrals  aud  Eries 
must   have   preserved   some  tradition  of   the   fact    if   tlieir  fathers   builded    tliem. 

"  The  proofs  that  these  ancient  earthworks  are  attributable  to  the  red  men,  of 
the  Iluronlroquois  family,  are  to  my  mind  convincing." 

If  this  be  true,  tlie  Hiiron-Iroqiiois  tribes  are  descended  from  the  North- 
men and  the  n;itives ;  for  the  same  race  of  men  who  made  those  ancient 
eartlnvorks  must  also  have  made  tlie  ditclies,  fortifications,  and  moats  at 
Stony  Brook,  at  Fort  Noruinbega.  and  at  Millis. 

On  the  nineteentli  of  April,  as  the  frost  was  out  of  tlio  trround.  I  began 
my  search  for  the  remains  of  the  long  house  built  by  Thorlinn's  party. 

It  is  not  easy  for  an  amateur  to  find  tlie  foundations  of  a  house  after 
they  have  be(Mi  burled  .several  liundred  years,  even  when  they  can  be  traced 


f  5 


i  t 


24 


THE  GRAVES  OF  THE  NORTHMEN. 


I    ^ 


by  ridges  of  earth  as  plainly  as  these  could  be.  For  an  hour  or  more  I 
watched  the  earth  thrown  up,  and  probed  the  ground  in  vain.  At  noon 
I  went  for  Mr.  Scorgie,  who  liad  made  the  excavations  at  Lelf's  house 
under  my  father's  direction,  and  asked  him  to  show  me  how  to  find  the 
foundations  and  fireplace  of  this  house.  He  soon  found  them  for  me.  The 
ring  of  the  iron  rod  against  the  stones,  as  he  struck  for  the  north  wall, 
was  distinct  and  sharp.  In  the  afternoon  I  asked  him  to  undertake  the 
direction  of  the  work ;  and  when  I  went  there  later  he  had  outlined  with 
the  rod  two  walls  about  sixty-four  feet  long,  having  first  found  the  end 
wall  at  the  south. 

The    excavations   can   be   seen   in    the    plan.     One    trench    shows    the 
north   wall ;    two  cross-trenches   show   the   side  walls ;   at  the   south  end 


Antiknt  HdisE  OF  THE  NORTHMEN.    (From  "Saga  Time.") 

a  diagonal  trench   shows  the  south  and  east  walls,  and  another  crosses  the 
.southwest  corner. 

Apparently,  when  they  began  to  build  the  house,  trenches  were  dug, 
and  into  them  large  and  small  stones  were  thrown  and  packed  together 
with  earth.  On  this  solid  foundation  the  logs  of  wood  rested,  as  can 
be  seen  in  the  illustration  taken  from  Vicary's  "  Saga  Time."  The  follow- 
ing description  is  also  taken  from  the  same  book  :  — 


D*  » 


^ 


X 


I 


kk 


^ g 


0 

■J 

a 

I 


fil 


0 

? 

3 

a 

3 

5' 


W 


> 

1 

tg 

w 
OS 
S0 
OH 


2,      ^ 
GO 

f 


^ 


Si 


QC 


; 


\. 


■ 


THE  GRAVES  OF  THE  NOKTHMEN. 


25 


"  The  houses  of  the  Northmen  in  Saga  time  were  of  one  type.  They  were  built 
of  wood,  where  it  could  be  obtained.  Logs  of  wood  were  roughly  hewn  and  {.laced 
one  over  the  other,  and  the  interstices  filled  with  moss.  Outside,  wood-tar  was  used  : 
inside,  hangings  of  skin  or  coarse  cloth.  Occasionally,  the  inside  of  the  house  was 
lined  with  rough  boards.  The  roof  consisted  of  boards  covered  with  birch-bark,  on 
which  turf  was  placed.  The  same  description  of  building  existed  in  Sweden  and 
in  Courland,  as  it  is  so  stated  in  Egil  Skallagrimsson's  Saga. 

"  Tiiere  were  no  chimneys,  and  an  upper  room  or  loft  was  comparatively  unusual. 
The  interior  of  the  house  consisted  of  one  room  open  to  the  roof,  and  the  smoke 
of  the  fire  found  its  way  through  a  hole,  which  could  be  shut  with  a  framework, 
on  which  the  caul  of  a  calf  was  stretched.  In  the  upper  part  of  the  walls  of  the 
house  holes  were  made,  called  yluygar.  Sometimes  these  were  In  the  lower  part  of 
the  roof,  and  were  called  wind-eyes  {vindoie)  ,  hence  the  word  '  v  indow.'  These 
windows  were  closed  with  shutters  or  trap-doors.  Under  the  Ijoren,  or  opening 
where  the  smoke  left  tiie  house,  was  the  fire,  which  was  lit  on  the  floor,  or  on  a 
few  stones  placed  for  the  purpose.  In  larger  houses  the  fire  was  nearly  as  long  as 
the  hall.  Trunks  of  trees  were  lit  in  such  a  manner  that  they  burnt  through  their 
whole  length.  On  the  floor  was  the  tub  that  held  the  mjdd,  or  mead,  and  from  which 
that  liquid  was  served  in  horns  to  the  guests.  On  formal  occasions  the  floor  was 
strewn  with  straw  or  rushes. 


"  The  shape  of  the  house  was  rectangular,  —  the  longer  sides  facing  north  and 
south ;  the  ends,  cast  and  west." 

But  in  this  long  house,  the  foundations  of  which  I  discovered,  were  two 
fireplaces  ;  the  stones,  which  showed  the  action  of  heat,  were  neatly  laid 
together,  with  a  few  clam-shells  and  oyster-shells  near  by.  It  was  a  sur- 
prise to  find  two  fireplaces  ;  and  this  fact  troubled  me,  until  I  found  a 
reason  for  it  in  the  "  Viking  Age  " :  — 

"  '  There  was  no  ceiling  within  the  roof ;  the  smoke  from  the  open  hearths  on  the 
floe,  which  covered  the  inside  with  soot,  escaped  through  the  Ijiiri,  of  which  there 
was  at  least  one,  and  which  also  admitted  light.' "     (Ynglinga  Saga,  34.) 

Sometimes,  then,  they  had  more  than  one  fireplace  in  their  houses. 

In    digging    the    trench    across  the    east    wall,  a    small  cavity    filled 


26 


TIIK  GUAVKS  OF  THE  NOKTHMEN. 


with  kitchen  midden '  was  found,  containing  the  teeth  and  bones  of  a 
deer.  ^ 

I  carried  my  excavations  no  further,  because  my  father  did  not  wish 
to  have  the  ridges  destroyed  by  which  he  discovered  the  site  of  the 
house. 

There  are  near  by,  and  yet  undisturbed,  traces  of  other  houses  as 
described  in  the  Sagas. 

At  this  time,  while  I  was  working  at  the  site  of  Thorfinn's  house,  I 
found  in  the  Notes  and  News  of  the  January  number  ot  the  American 
Anthropologist  the  name  "Shawnee."  I  remembered  that  my  father  had 
once  told  me  that  "  Shawnee  "  was  a  descriptive  name  given  by  the  natives 
to  the  Northmen ;  so  I  looked  with  interest  to  see  what  the  writer  would 
say  about  them.     I  quote  the  following  :  — 

"Attention  has  been  drawn  by  several  writers  to  the  fact  that  the  form  of 
sepulture  called  bo.\-8tone  graves  is  found  wherever  Shawnees  dwelled.  They  are 
found  in  central  Tennessee,  which  was  for  a  long  time  their  fixed  home;  in  the 
Cherokee  country,  where  a  band  lived  for  a  time  ;  in  northern  Georgia,  where  there 
were  some  villages  of  them ;  in  Pennsylvania,  where  they  lived  with  the  Delawarcs ; 
in  Ohio,  and  southern  Illinois.  No  other  Indians  have  been  known  to  practise  tliis 
mode  of  burial,  except,  to  some  extent,  tribes  with  whom  or  near  whom  the  Shawnees 
lived,  —  tlie  Delawarcs  and  some  of  the  Illinois  tril)e8.  The  box-stone  graves  must 
be  accepted  as  an  ethnic  ciiaracteristic  of  the  Shawnees. 

"  In  Tennessee,  where  the  nation  long  had  their  home,  cemeteries  of  bo.x-stone 
graves  are  habitually  associated  with  mounds  ;  such  graves  are  frequently  found  in 

1  For  a  few  of  my  readois  who  may  not  know  the  exact  meaning  of  "  kitchen-midden  "  I  give 
the  definition  taken  from  the  Century  Dictionary  :  -  ■ 

"  A  .slicU-mound  :  the  literal  translation  of  the  Danish  Ijidhn-mMilinr)  —k\tc\u'n  refuse.  This 
refuse  forms  extensive  he.aps  or  mounds,  which  consist  chiefly  of  the  shells  of  edible  tnollusks  mixed 
isith  fragments  of  hones  ot  various  animals,  and  implements  of  stone,  bone,  and  horn.  Mounds  of 
this  kind  are  found  in  large  numbers  on  the  eastern  coa.st  of  Denmark,  in  various  parts  of  Scotlaml 
i.loiig  the  shores  of  the  firths,  aa  well  as  in  Ireland  and  elsewhere.  They  are  the  refuae  heaps  which 
accumulated  around  the  dwellings  of  former  inhabitants,  and  in  the  case  of  Itenmark  are  believed 
W  the  best  authoritJ.'s  to  be  refer.ible  to  the  early  part  of  the  Neolithic  age,  'when  the  art  of  polishing 
flict  implements  was  kimwn,  but  before  it  had  rcacheil  its  (rreatest  development.'" 

2  Examined  at  th.   Museum  of  Comparative  Zoology,  Harvard  University. 


I 


THE  GRAVES  OP  THE  NORTHMEN. 


27 


mounds,  and  mounds  arc  sometimes  little  more  than  a  cover  over  tiers  of  graves. 
In  lilinois  the  same  contiguity  and  intermingling  arc  found.  It  is  certain  thot  the 
mounds  which  contain  such  stone  graves  were  built  by  the  men  who  made  the  graves. 
That  being  admitted,  there  is  little  room  left  to  doubt  that  the  associated  mounds  and 
connected  works  wore  built  by  the  same  people.  Hence  it  follows  that  the  Shawnees, 
when  a  sedentary  people,  habitually  made  mounds  and  associated  earthworks. 

"  One  of  the  Etowah  group,  a  considerable  mound,  but  dwarfed  by  the  grandeur  of 
tho  great  one  of  the  group,  when  carefully  excavated  was  found  to  have  'been  built 
over  a  group  of  stone  graves.  In  some  of  these  graves  were  found  copper  plates, 
incised,  or  stamped  or  hammered  with  outlined  figures.  These  when  found  baffled 
conjecture.  The  care  with  which  the  excavation  was  made  by  practised  hands  left 
no  room  for  suspicion  of  fraud.  They  were,  then,  placed  there  by  those  who  made 
tho  graves. 

"  At  first  sight  tho  figures  stamped  upon  the  copper  plates  seemed  Mexican  or 
Central  American ;  but  closer  examination  showed  that  while  the  figures  in  general 
were  of  the  Mexican  type,  there  were  some  differences.  Some  of  the  figures  are 
winged;  tho  wings  arc  represented  as  part  of  an  entire  bird-skin  enveloping  the  figure, 
as  in  the  Indian  designs,  but  arc  made  to  spring  from  the  body  behind  and  between 
tho  shoulders,  which  is  a  European  conception.  Tiic  drawing  of  the  limbs  is  Euro- 
pean, not  Indian.  On  one  plate  are  distinct  marks  of  a  sharp  metallic  tool.  Anotlier 
is  made  of  pieces  welded  together.  Several  are  fastened  by  small  rivets,  neatly 
wrought.  Tho  workmanship  was  European  ;  the  plates  were  made  by  Europeans  to 
represent  Indian  designs.  Tho  question  remained,  How  did  they  get  to  tho  northern 
part  of  Georgia  when  none  arc  found  south  of  that  point  ? " 

The  Shawnees,  then,  buried  their  dead  in  typical  Norse  graves,  both  in 
mounds  and  in  cemeteries.  On  reading  Dr.  Cyrus  Thomas's  "  Problem  of  the 
Ohio  Mounds,"  and  "  The  Shawnees  in  Pre-Columbian  Times,"  a  great  deal 
of  light  was  thrown  on  the  subject,  and  to  illustrate  it  plainly  I  must  quote 
from  these  papers :  — 

"There  arc  several  forms  and  varieties  of  stone  graves,  or  cists,  found  in  the  mound 
area,  some  being  of  cobble-stones,  others  of  slabs ;  some  round,  others  polygonal ; 
some  dome-shaped,  others  square,  and  others  box-shaped,  or  parallelograms.  .  .  . 

"  These  graves,  as  is  well  known,  are  formed  of  rough  and  unhewn  slabs,  or  flat 
pieces  of  stone,  finis:  First,  in  a  pit  some  two  or  three  feet  deep  and  of  the  desired 


«■ 


28 


THE  GRAVES  OF  THE  NORTHMEN. 


dimeiiBions,  dug  for  the  purpoBo,  a  layer  of  atone  is  placed  to  form  the  flour ;  next, 
similar  piocos  arc  set  on  edge  to  form  the  sides  and  ends,  over  wiiicli  other  slabs  arc 
bid  tiat,  forming  the  covering,  the  whole  when  linished  making  a  rude,  box  tthu|icd 


CiNKRABV  Deposit.    (••  Viking  Age,"  p.  127.) 


CiNKKAIlY    Dkpdsit.      ("  Viltillg  Age,"  Jl.  1  J7.) 


coffin  or  sepulchre.  Sometimes  one  or  more  of  the  six  faces  arc  wanting  ;  occasion- 
ally the  bottom  consists  of  a  layer  of  wutcr-woni  boulders  ;  Bometinies  the  top  is  not 
a  single  layer  of  slabs,  but  other  pieces  are  laid  over  the  joints,  and  sometimes  they 
are  placed  shingle-fashion.  These  graves  vary  in  length  from  fourteen  inches  to  eight 
feet,  and  in  width  from  nine  inches  to  three  feet. 

"  It  is  not  an  unusual  thing  to  (ind  a  mound  containing 
a  number  of  these  cists  arranged  in  two,  three,  or  more  tiers. 
As  a  general  rule,  those  not  in  mounds  are  near  the  surface 

of  the  ground,  and 

in  some  instances 

even  projecting 

above    it.      It     is 

probable   that    no 

one   who  has   e.\- 

amined   them  has 

failed  to  note  their 


l/.!l.iJ 


.Sro.NE  Cist.     ("  Viliiiig  Age,"  i>.  l.il  ) 


Inside  ok  Stosk  Cist. 
("  Vilviiig  Ak'C,"  p.  1:54.) 


strong  resemblance  to  the  European  mode  of  burial.  Even  Dr.  Joseph  Jones,  who 
attributes  them  to  some  '  ancient  race,'  was  forcil)ly  reminded  of  this  resemblance, 
as  he  remarks :  '  In  looking  at  the  rude  stone  coffins  of  Tennessee,  I  have  again 
and  again  been  impressed  with  the  idea  that  in  some  former  age  this  ancient  race 


THE  GRAVES  OF  THE  NORTHMEN. 


29 


must  have  coiuo  in  contact  with  Europeana,  and  .  jrivcd  tiiis  mode  of  burial  from 
tlicm.' " 

The  Shawnees,  then,  are  probably  descended  from  natives  who  had 
como  In  contact  with  the  Northmen.  Dr.  Thomas's  reasoning  leads  to 
but  one  conclusion  about  the  builders  of  these  graves.  I 
will  use  his  own  words,  hoping  that  those  who  are  inter- 
ested will  read  his  articles  and  compare  them  with  the 
archa3ology  of  Scandinavia  :  — 

"  Tiie  importance   and  bearing  of  this  trvidenco  does  not  stop 

with  what  has  been  stated,  for  it  is  so  interlociced  with  other  facts 

relating  to  tlio  works  of  the  ♦  veritable  mound-builders '  us  to  leave 

no  hiatus  into  wiiicii  the  theory  of  a  lost  race  or  a  '  Toltec  occui)a- 

tion  *  can  possibly  bo  thrust.     It  forum  an  unbroken  chain  connecting 

the  mound-builders  and   historical   Indians   which   no  sopiiistry  or 

reasoning  can  break.    Not  only  are  thesti  graves  found  in  mounds 

of  considerable  size,  but  tliey   are  also  connected  with  one  of  the 

most  noted  groups  in  the  United  States ;  namely,  the  one  on  Colonel      __ 

Tumlin's  place,  near  Cartersville,  Ga.,  known  as  the  Etowah  mounds.    , 
r      1  •  1  <■  11     1         •     .  ...    .       .  Stone  Coffiv. 

Of  which   a   full  description   will    bo   found  in  the  Fifth   Annual   "Vik.  .\ge,"i).l.i4. 

Report  of  the  Jkreau  of  Ethnology." 

The  articles  found  in  these  mounds  next  interested  me.  Cloth  has  been 
found,  implements  and  ornaments  of  copper,  silver  in  the  form  of  ornaments, 
galena,  the  ore  of  lead,  copper  axes,  knives,  chisels,  spear-heads,  arrow-heads, 
awls,  bracelets,  pendants,  tubes,  gorgets,  buttons,  beads,  etc.;*  also  silver 
beads,  copper  beads,  pearls,  and  .sliolls,  spear-heads  and  arrow-heads  of  flint, 
quartz,  garnet,  and  obsidian."  ("lay  vessels  of  many  shapes  and  sizes  can 
be  seen  at  the  Peabody  Museum,  which  resemble  closely  illustrations  of 
tho.se  taken  from  Norse  mounds.  Professor  Putnam  in  the  Sixteenth 
Annual  Report  of  the  Peabody  Museum  gives  an  account  of  the  discovery 
of  native  gold,  silver,  copper,  and   iron  ;    the  canine  teeth  of  bears  and 

'  .'^hephenrs  "  Antiquities  of  the  State  of  Oliio." 

'  Transactions  of  the  American  Ethnological  Society,  vol.  ii. 


30 


THE  GRAVES  OF  THE  NORTHMEN. 


other  animals  (teeth  of  animals  are  also  found  in  Norse  graves),  and 
thousands  of  pearls,  nearly  all  of  which  are  perforated  for  suspension.' 

Especially  characteristic  of  both  the  'iiound-builders  and  the  Northmen 
are  the  amulets  called  by  our  American  archaeologists  "  gorgets,"  and  by  Du 
Chaillu  "  bracteates."  Those  found  in  the  graves  of  the  mound-builders  are 
usually  discs  of  shell  about  four  inches  in  diameter,  pierced  with  one  or  two 
holes  near  the  top,  by  which  they  were  suspended  round  the  neck.  They 
are  beautifully  polished,  and  are  engraved  with  bird-heads,  circles,  stars, 
half-moons,  crosses,  snakes,  human  figures,  etc." 

The  account  of  the  bracteates  I  take  from  the  "  Viking  Age  " :  — 

"  Among  the  most  curious  and  beautiful  ornaments  that  have  been  discovered  in 
the  North  are  the  gold  bracteates,  which  occur  in  great  numbers,  but  are  seldom 
found  in  graves,  and  which  were  used,  as  we  can  see  from  the  loop  attached  to  them, 
as  an  ornament  to  be  worn  hanging  from  the  neck.  That  they  were  held  to  be  pro- 
tective amulets,  and  were  used  by  the  temple  priests  in  religious  ceremonies,  is 
probable.  They  are  formed  by  embossing  or  stamping  upon  a  disc,  and  the  gold 
is  extremely  thin.  Tiie  peculiarity  of  their  designs,  and  the  mystic  and  symbolic 
signs  which  are  used  upon  them  —  such  as  the  svastica,  the  triskele,  the  cross,  the 
triad  in  dots,  birds,  snakes,  etc.,  peculiar  shapes  of  animals,  and  the  head-dress  of 
men  —  are  very  remarkable ;  and  the  sign  in  the  shape  of  an  S,  found  also  on  objects 
of  the  bronze  age,  makes  them  specially  interesting." 

The  arrow-heads  of  obsidian  usually  thought  to  have  come  from  Mexico 
or  west  of  the  Rocky  Mountains,  also  point  to  the  Northmen. 

It  will  be  seen  from  what  I  have  shown,  that,  if  the  Northmen  founded 
a  colony  at  Norumbega  on  the  Charles,  a  burial-ground  containing  typical 
Norse  graves  must  have  been  near  by,  and  that  burial-mounds  probably 
still  remain  in  the  neighborhood.  The  graves  of  the  Northmen  are  usually 
found  on  elevated  points  overlooking  the  sea  or  fjords.  The  mound-builders 
of  the  West  also  selected  high  banks  above  rivers  and  streams  for  their 
fortified  enclosures  and  their  burial-grounds.     Therefore,  if  one  would  find 

'  Shepherd's  "  Antiquities  of  tlie  State  of  Ohio." 
"  Shawuaes  in  Pre-Columbian  Times. 


THE  GRAVES  OF  THE  NORTHMEN. 


31 


a  Norumbega  graveyard,  one  should  look  on  some  hillside  sloping  to  the 
Charles. 

I  chose  a  suitable  place  on  a  county  map,  where  there  were  neither 
houses  nor  streets,  about  a  quarter  of  a  mile  above  the  Bemis  Station  on  the 
opposite  side  of  the  river.  I  drove  as  near  to  it  as  possible,  then  climbed  a 
stone-wall  and  walked  to  the  brow  of  the  hill  and  looked  down  on  the  river 
terrace.  For  a  moment  I  was  keenly  disappointed  :  there  were  no  mounds. 
Nevertheless,  I  walked  down  to  examine  the  land  more  closely.  I  soon  saw 
that  it  was  more  or  less  covered  with  concave  circles  from  six  to  eighteen 
feet  in  diameter,  surrounded  by  stones,  overgrown  more  or  less  with  turf. 
There  were  also  neatly  laid  circles  paved  with  stones,  slightly  convex,  and 
sometimes  with  an  outline  of  larger  stones  at  a  distance  of  about  a  foot 
and  a.  half  from  the  paving.  It  was  a  cemetery  of  "  stone-set  graves,"  such 
as  are  shown  in  the  following  illustrations  taken  from  the  "  Viking  Age  " 
(vol.  i.  p.  316). 


^Uct^w^r^ 


A  few  days  after  tliis  I  received  permission  from  Dr.  Bemis,  the  owner 
of  the  property,  to  examine  these  graves. 

I  chose  one  of  the  largest  and  best  situated  of  those  which  I  have 
described  as  concave,  encircled  by  stones.  The  trench  was  started  outside 
the  circle,  and  for  nearly  three  hours  T  watched  the  earth  mixed  with 
seashore  sand,  water-worn  stones,  and  boulders  thrown  out  by  the  spades 
of  the  workmen.  At  the  end  of  that  time  I  suddenly  realized  that 
the  grave  had  been  thoroughly  excavated  in  the  past ;  and  not  only 
that  one,  but  all  those  which  were  concave  had  been  opened.  And  yet 
for  more    than  a  century  the   land   had  been  in  Dr.  Bemis's  family,  and 


•*:( 


32 


THE  GRAVES  OF  THE  NORTHMEN. 


SO  far  as  he  knew  had  never  been  disturbed  until  the  metropolitan  sewer 
was  laid  through  it  a  short  time  ago. 

My  second  choice  was  a  small  but  neatly  paved  circle,  which  evidently 
had  not  been  opened.     I  did  not  find  the  grave  that  afternoon,  because 


P^' 


ooooo 

'OoOOOOO 


;C5fe3fc,»j*ilOL,V>«'i..A.\M«» 


hrs^ 


"^'       1 


I  did  not  begin  my  trench  far  enough  outside  the  paved  circle.  A  few 
days  later  I  went  there  again  and  found  it.  Under  the  loam  and  two  or 
more  feet  of  gravel  a  hard  layer  of  white  clay  was  struck,  about  three  inches 
thick,  three  feet  broad,  and  seven  feet  long.  On  this,  rounded  stones  out- 
lined the  form  that  had  once  lain  there.  Near  the  head  the  stones  were 
larger.  The  illustrations  above  show  an  outline  drawing  and  also  a  cross- 
section  of  the  grave.  There  was  no  trace  of  bones  or  organic  matter,  and 
I  realized  then  that  I  could  no  longer  hope  to  see  the  skull  of  Thorbrand 
Snorrason,  which  had  been  cleft  by  a  flat  stone. 

Near  Grove  Street,  by  the  road  between  Watertown  and  Cambridge, 
looking  down  on  a  pond,  is  a  group  of  mounds  overgrown  by  large  trees, 
—  such  mounds  as  I  had  expected  to  find  on  the  river  bank.  There 
probably  are  many  such  groups  not  far  from  the  ancient  city  of  Norum- 
bega,  which  are  yet  to  be  discovered.  I  add  an  illustration  of  burial- 
mounds  (page  33)  from  the  "Viking  Age"  (vol.  i.  p.  315). 

When  I  returned  home  the  photographs  of  the  brass  kettles,  found  in  a 
Kah  Kwah  grave,  had  come  from  the  Buffalo  Historical  Society,  with  a  list 
of  the  other  articles  found  at  the  same  time,  which  werp  "  one  small  kettle 
half  the  size  of  those  in  the  photograph,  a  jack-knife,  a  thimble,  half-a-dozen 
bracelets  and  ear-rings,  half-a-dozen  small  bells  strung  on  buckskin,  and  a 
few  other  little  things."     In  this  grave  the  remains  of  many  skeletons  were 


■ 


ts 


1 


n 


THE  GRAVES  OF  THE  NOllTHMEX. 


33 


found,  in  accordance  with  one  of  the  ancient  Norse  customs.  "  Several 
persons  were  often  buried  in  tlic^  sanie  mound ;  and  after  a  battle,  many 
of  the  slain  were  buried  together."' 

The  same  day  my  niece  and  nephew,  Gertrude  and  Augustus  Fiske, 
sent  me  a  message  from  Weston,  telling  me  that  they  had  discovered 
some  ditches,  like  those  at  Stony  Brook  which  their  grandfather  (Eben 
Norton  Horsford)  had  shown  them.  I  went  to  see  them  as  soon  as  pos- 
sible. They  were  primitive  fortifications,  outside  of  which  were  probably 
once  the  timber  palisades,  such  as  the  Jesuit  fathers  found  the  Iroquois 


Indians  still  using  when  they  came  to  this  country ;  such  also  as  De  Soto 
found  about  the  habitations  of  the  Indians,  who  were  still  mound-builders 
when  he  discovered  the  Mississippi  River  in  1539.  and  such  as  Thorfinn 
built  about  Leif's  house  in  Vineland,  as  described  in  the  "  Flatey  Book 
Saga."  Below  these  fortifications  a  beautiful  stream  flowed  by  to  a 
meadow.  It  flashed  in  the  sunlight  over  the  old  stone  dam,  shaded  by 
tall  trees.  Such  a  stream,  dam,  and  meadow  Liot  and  Thorbiorn  may 
have  owned  in  Iceland,  when  Liot  closed  his  water-hatches  and  prevented 
Thorbiorn  from  using  the  meadow,  and  his  wickedness  "was  heard  of 
far  and  wide." ' 

It  is  generally  known  that  a  mysterious   race  now  called  the  Mound- 
builders  once   occupied   the   central  portion  of   the  United   States.     Their 

'  Viking  Age.  vol.  i.  p.  328.  '  Saga  of  Howard  the  Halt. 


i    •? 


I   i 
!  I 


H 


I'    ) 


34 


THE  (iUAVES  OF  THE  NORTHMEN. 


works  are  found  over  the  whole  of  the  Missi-*^Ij>pi  ^'.lUey.  "  They  consist, 
for  the  most  part,  of  mounds  and  enclosures  of  earth  and  stone,  erected 
with  great  labor  and  manifest  design,  so  numerous  that  in  Ohio  alone 
there  are,  or  were  till  quite  recently,  not  less  than  ten  thousand  of  the 
mounds,  and  from  fifteen  hundred  to  two  thousand  enclosures.  In  other 
parts  ot  the  valley  they  are  so  numerous  that  no  attempt  has  ever  been 
made  to  count  them  all." ' 

Ti'rom  the  "  Transactions  of  the  American  Ethnological  Society,"  vol.  ii. 
p.  iA'',\  give  the  following  further  account  of  these  earthworks:  — 

"  They  spread  over  a  vast  extent  of  couiitr}-.  They  arc  found  on  the  sources  of 
the  Alleghany,  in  the  western  part  of  the  State  of  New  York,  on  the  east;  and 
extend  thence  westwardly  along  the  southern  shore  of  Lake  Eric,  and  through 
Michigan  and  Wisconsin,  to  Iowa  and  the  Nebraska  territory,  on  the  west  We 
have  no  record  of  their  occurrence  above  the  lakes,  nor  higher  than  the  falls  of  the 
Mississippi.  Carver  mentions  some  on  the  shores  of  Lake  Pepin;  and  Lewis  and 
Clarke  saw  them  on  the  Missouri  River  one  thousand  miles  above  its  junction  with 
the  Mississi])pi.  They  are  found  all  over  the  intermediate  country,  and  along  the 
valley  of  the  Mississippi  to  the  Gulf  of  Mexico.  They  line  the  shores  of  the  Gulf 
from  Texas  to  Florida,  and  extend,  in  diminished  numbers,  into  South  Carolina. 
They  occur  in  great  numbers  in  Ohio,  Indiana,  Illinois,  Wisconsin,  Missouri,  Arkan- 
sas, Kentucky,  Tennessee,  Louisiana,  Mississippi,  Alabama,  Georgia,  Florida,  and 
Texas.  Tliey  are  found,  in  less  numbers,  in  the  western  portions  of  New  York, 
Pennsylvania,  and  Virginia,  as  well  as  in  Micliigan,  Iowa,  North  and  South 
Carolina,  and  in  the  Mexican  territory,  beyond  the  Rio  Grande  del  Norte.  Li 
short,  they  occupy  the  entire  basin  of  the  Mississippi  and  its  tributaries,  as  also 
the  fertile   plains  along  the  Gulf. 

"  It  is  not  to  be  understood  that  these  remains  are  dispersed  equally  over 
the  area  here  defined.  They  are  mainly  confined  to  the  valleys  of  the  streams, 
occupying  the  level,  fertile  terraces,  and  seldom  occurring  very  far  back  from 
them." 

These  ancient  remains  consist  of  defensive  and  sacred  enclosures,  burial 
mounds,  temple  mounds,  and  effigy  mounds. 

'  Antiquities  of  the  State  of  Ohio  (Preface). 


f       I 


THE  GRAVES  OF  THE  NORTHMEN. 


35 


"The  enclosures  constitute  by  far  the  most  imposing  class  of  these  ancient 
remains.  They  arc  usually  regular  in  outline,  the  square  and  the  circle,  separate  or 
in  combination,  predominating ;  and  they  vary  in  size  from  an  acre  or  less  to  three 
hundred  and  fifty  and  even  four  hundred  acres. 

"  The  mounds  are  usually  simple  cones  in  form ;  but  they  are  sometimes  trun- 
cated, and  occasionally  terraced,  with  graded  avenues  or  spiral  pathways  to  their 
summits.  Some  are  elliptical,  others  pear-shaped,  and  others  square  or  parallelo- 
grams, with  flanlting  terraces." ' 

A  description  of  the  Southern  mounds  at  the  time  De  Soto  was  here  is 
full  of  interest,  as  quoted  from  the  "  American  Antiquarian,"  by  Dr. 
Cyrus  Thomas :  — 

"  It  is  a  remarkable  fact  that  the  earthworlts  in  the  Southern  States  were,  when 
discovered,  occupied  as  village  sites.  A  large  number  of  these  villages  have  been 
described,  and  although  the  sites  have  not  been  identified  in  later  times,  yet  the 
descriptions  indicate  that  the  very  mounds  which  are  now  being  studied  as  objects 
of  80  great  intei'cst  were  then  used  as  residences  for  the  various  tribes.  Ferdinand 
de  Soto  and  his  army  were  the  first  to  discover  the  mounds.  Mention  is  frequently 
made  of  them  by  the  historians  of  the  expedition.  .  .  .  Some  of  the  villages  were 
surrounded  by  stockades,  and  were  so  situated  as  to  be  used  for  defences 
or  for  fortifications ;  but  a  large  number  of  them  arc  also  described  as  having 
elevated  mounds,  wliich  were  used  by  the  caciques  for  their  residences,  and  as 
observatories  from  which  they  could  overlook  the  villages.  .  .  .  The  narrative 
KJiows  that  these  prominent  earthworks  were  associated  universally  with  village 
life.  Sometimes  the  dwellitig  of  the  cacique  would  l)c  on  the  high  mound  which 
served  as  a  fortress,  the  only  ascent  to  it  being  by  ladders  [steps].  At  other 
times,  mention  is  made  of  the  fact  that  from  the  summit  of  these  mounds  exten- 
sive prospects  could  be  had,  and  many  native  villages  could  bo  brought  to  view. 
Tlie  villages  arc  described  as  seated  in  a*])lain,  betwixt  two  streams;  as  nearly 
encircled  by  a  deep  moat,  fifty  paces  in  breadth,  and  where  the  moat  did  not  extend 
were  defended  by  a  strong  wall  of  timber,  .  .  .  near  a  wide  and  rapid  river,  the 
largjst  they  .liscovered  in  Florida.'  This  was  the  Mississippi.  '  On  a  high  artificial 
mound  on  one  side  of  the  village  stood  the  dwelling  of  the  cacique,  which  served  as 
a  fortress.'     Thus,  throughout  this  whole  region,  from  the  scacoast  at  T.impa  Bay, 

'  Antiquities  of  the  State  of  Ohio. 


30 


tup:  okavks  of  thk  northmkn. 


in  the  States  of  Florida,  South  Carolina,  Georgia,  Alabama,  Miss  isippi  [and] 
Arkansas,  tlicae  ancient  villages  appeared,  occupied  hy  tlie  various  triijes,  such  as 
Creeivs,  Catawbas,  Chcrokces,  Choctaws,  Chickasaws,  Quapaws,  Kansas,  and  possibly 
Shawnees." ' 

The  mounds,  ditches,  palisades,  and  earthworks  of  the  Northmen  in 
England  are  described,  with  illustrations  of  ground-plans  and  sections, 
in  '-Medixn-al  Military  Architecture,"  by  George  T.  Clark.  From  this 
work  I  give  a  few  selections :  — 

"  These  works,  thrown  up  in  England  in  the  ninth  and  tenth  centuries,  are 
seldom,  if  ever,  rectangular,  nor  are  they  governed  to  any  great  extent  by  the 
character  of  the  ground.  First  was  cast  up  a  truncated  cone  of  earth,  standing  at 
its  natural  slope,  from  twelve  to  oven  fifty  or  sixty  feet  in  height.  This  mound 
.  .  .  was  formed  from  the  contents  of  a  broad  and  deep  circumscribing  ditch.  .  .  . 
Though  usually  artificial,  these  mounds  arc  not  always  so.  Durham,  Launceston, 
Montacute,  Dunstor,  Restormel,  Nant  Cribba,  arc  natural  hills ;  Wuidsor,  Tickhill, 
Lewes,  Norwich,  Ely,  and  the  Devizes  are  partly  so ;  at  Sherborne  and  Iledingham 
the  mound  is  a  natural  jilatform,  scarped  by  art ;  at  Tutbur\ ,  Pontefract,  and 
Bramber,  where  the  natural  platform  was  also  large,  it  has  been  scarped,  and  a 
mound  thrown  up  upon  it. 

"It  appears,  then,  that  setting  aside  works  that  have  not  been  identified,  or 
which  have  been  destroyed  before  note  was  taken  of  them,  there  are  above  a  jore 
of  burhs,  the  date  of  the  erection  of  which,  and  the  name  of  the  founder,  are  entered 
in  a  trustworthy  record,  and  which  are  still  to  be  seen.  What  then  is  a  burh?  A 
burh  is  a  moated  mound  with  a  table  top,  and  a  base  court,  also  moated,  either 
appended  to  one  side  of  it,  or  within  which  it  stands.  Hut  the  burhs,  the  dates  of 
which  are  on  record,  and  which  are  thus  descril)ed,  are  but  a  very  few  of  those 
found  all  over  England,  in  the  lowlands  of  Scotland,  and  on  the  marches  bordering 
on  Wales,  which  from  their  precise  similarity  in  character  to  those  actually  identified 
must  be  assumed  to  be  of  like  date  and  origin,  and  may  therefore  safely  be  attri- 
buted to  the  ninth  and  tenth  and  })Ossil)ly  to  the  ciglith  centuries,  and  to  the  English 
people,  —  that  is,  to  the  Northern  settlers  generally,  as  distinguished  from  the 
Britons  and  the  Romans. 


'  The  American  .\iitliropologist.    Vul.  IV.  \o.  2. 


THE  (IRAVES  OF  THE  NORTHMEN. 


87 


"  In  Scotland,  upon  the  mound  called  the  '  Butte  of  Dunsinane,'  tradition  places 
the  residence  of  Macbeth  early  in  the  eleventh  century. 

"There  arc  not  wanting  descriptions  of  these  timber-defended  works.  .  .  . 

"  Another  quotation,  talicn  also  from  M.  de  Caumont,  from  the  Life  of  John,  a 
canonized  prelate  of  the  church  of  Terouane,  by  Archdeacon  Colmicr,  gives  an 
account  of  the  fortress  of  Merchem,  near  Dixonudc,  in  which  the  material  employed 
and  the  mode  of  construction  are  clearly  set  forth : 

(^Translation.} 

" '  It  chanced  that  in  a  town  called  Merchem,  Bishop  John  had  a  guest-house. 
There  was  also  close  to  the  court  of  the  church  a  strong  place,  which  might  be 
regarded  as  a  castle  or  a  niuncii)ium,  very  lofty,  built  after  the  fashion  of  the  country 
by  the  lord  of  the  town  many  years  ago.  For  it  was  customary  for  the  rich  men 
and  nobles  of  those  parts,  because  their  chief  occupation  is  the  carrying  on  of  feuds 
and  slaughters,  in  order  that  they  may  in  this  way  be  safe  from  enemies,  and  may 
have  the  greater  power  for  either  conquering  their  equals  or  keeping  down  their 
inferiors,  to  heap  u|)  a  mound  of  earth  as  high  as  they  were  able,  and  to  dig  round 
it  a  broad,  open,  and  deep  ditch,  and  to  girdle  the  whole  upper  edge  of  the  mound, 
instead  of  a  wall,  with  a  barrier  of  wooden  planks,  stoutly  fixed  together  with 
numerous  turrets  set  round.  Within  was  constructed  a  liousc,  or  rather  citadel, 
commanding  the  whole;  so  that  the  gate  of  entry  could  only  be  approached  t)y  a 
bridge,  which  first  springing  from  the  counter-scarp  of  the  ditch  was  gradually  raised 
as  it  advanced,  supported  by  sets  of  piers,  two  or  even  three,  trussed  on  each  side 
over  convenient  spans,  crossing  the  ditch  with  a  managed  ascent  so  as  to  reach 
the  upper  level  of  the  mound,  landing  at  its  edge  on  a  level  at  the  threshold  of 
the  gate.' ' 

"The  description  is  illustrated  by  the  representation  of  the  taking  of  Dinan.  in 
the  Baycux  tapestry.  There  is  seen  the  conical  mound  surmounted  by  a  timber 
building,  which  two  men  with  torches  arc  attempting  to  set  on  fire,  while  others 
are  ascending  by  a  steep  bridge  which  sjjans  the  moat  and  rises  to  a  gateway  on 
the  crest  of  the  mound. 

"In  claiming  for  these  moated  mounds  a  Northern  and  in  Britain  an  English 
origin,  it  would  be  too  much  to  assert  that  in  no  other  class  of  works  is  the  mound 
'  VitaStiJohannis  Epis:   Morinorum,  Ob.  1130.     [Acta  Sauctorum,  Jaiiuarii  27.] 


88 


TlIK  (JUAVKS  OF   THE  XOUTllMEN. 


oiiiploycd,  or  by  no  other  people  thnn  the  Northmen  ;  l>ut  it  may  be  safely  laid  down 
that  in  no  other  class  ot  early  fortitication  does  the  mound  occur  ns  the  leading  and 
typical  feature." 

Regarding  the  sacred  enclosures,  I  quote  from  Shepherd's  "  Antiquities 
of  the  State  of  Ohio  "  :  — 

«'  A  very  largo  proportion  of  the  ancient  enclosures  of  Ohio,  perhaps  nine-tenths 
of  the  entire  number,  belong  to  that  class  known  as  sacred  enclosures.  The  defensive 
enclosures  .  .  .  are  irregular  in  outline,  and  arc  situated,  with  very  few  exceptions, 
on  hill-tops,  overlooking  bottoms,  or  at  a  little  distance  from  them,  or  on  the  points 
formed  by  the  conHucncc  of  rivers  and  creeks.  The  sacred  enclosures,  on  the  other 
hand,  are  mostly  regular  in  outline,  and  occupy  the  broad  and  level  river-bottoms, 
seldom  occurring  upon  the  table-lands,  or  where  the  surface  is  undulating  or  broken. 

"The  works  of  this  class  are  mostly  square  or  circular  in  form,  anil  are  usually 
found  in  groups.  The  walls  of  much  the  larger  portion  of  the  works  are  compara- 
tively slight,  varying  from  three  to  seven  feet  in  height.  .  .  .  The  greater  number  of 
the  circles  are  of  small  size,  with  a  nearly  uniform  diameter  of  two  hundred  and  fifty 
or  three  hundred  feet,  and  invariably  have  the  ditch  interior  to  the  wall.  ...  It 
frequently  haj)pens  tliat  they  have  one  or  more  small  mounds,  of  the  class  denomi- 
nated sacrificial,  within  the  walls." 

A  letter  to  my  father'  describes  the  equivalent  of  these  places  of 
worsliip  in  Scandinavia.  The  writer  said  that  the  Odinic  religion  might 
be  looked  to  for  possible  evidence  of  the  Norsemen,  although  at  the  time 
of  the  settlement  of  Norumbega  it  was  being,  or  had  been,  superseded  by 
the  Christian  religion  ;  but  it  is  seen  by  the  history  of  that  time  that  the 
two  religions  existed  side  by  side  without  conflict  or  animosity. 

The  Odinic  religion  liad  certain  ceremonies  for  which  were  provided 
temples  and  circular  high  places  which  they  oallcl  hUnjs.  On  these  high 
places  certain  vestal  virgins  officiated,  called  llorf/a  hrudr  (Brides  of  tlie 
Hijrg).  A  ceremony  practised  on  these  luirgs  was  a  dance,  which  they 
called  the  horrja-dans.  This  horg  was  a  circular  mound  raised  above  the 
common  level  of  the   country,  and   built  on   comparatively  level   ground, 

'  From  George  W.  Johnson,  Esq.,  San  Francisco,  California. 


THK  (;KAVES  of  the  NORTHMEN. 


80 


the  outer  edge  being  protected  by  a  circular  wall  of  rock,  and  the  top 
paved  with  flat  stones.  In  the  centre  or  near  it  there  wa.s  an  altar,  or 
perhaps  more  than  one,  three  or  four  feet  high  ;  and  round  thi,s  a  congre- 
gation of  from  fifty  to  several  hundred  persons  would  dance  to  coarse  and 
rough  music  made  by  rude  instruments  or  by  singing.  It  is  said  that 
some  of  these  horgs  are  still  extant  in  portions  of  Scandinavia,  or  at 
least  evidences  of  them. 

I  have  found  other  descriptions  of  these  horgs  in  the  "  Viking  Age  '* 
and  in  Vigfussen's  Icelandic-English  Dictionary. 

I  have  already  written  of  the  burial-mounds.  Both  here  and  in  Scan- 
dinavia they  vary  greatly  in  size.  They  are  found  as  small  as  ten  feet 
in  diameter  and  two  feet  high ;  while  Anund's  mound  in  Vestmanland  is 
six  hundred  and  fifty-two  feet  in  circumference  and  eighty-four  feet  high ; 
and  the  Grave  Creek  mound  in  Virginia  is  six  hundred  yards  in  circum- 
ference and  ninety  feet  high. 

'•  The  mounds  and  cairns  are  not  always  round.  They  are  sometimes 
square,  oblong,  rectangular,  and  triangular."  ' 

The  same  day  that  I  saw  the  ditches  and  dams  at  Little  Penniman's 
in  Weston,  I  drove  to  Wayland  to  see  the  collection  of  Indian  relics  at 
the  town  hall.  The  people  of  Wayland  are  proud,  and  justly  so,  of  these 
articles  found  in  their  own  fields  and  woods.  The  gouges,  hatchets, 
spears,  arrow-heads,  pestles,  etc.,  are  beautifully  made  and  polished.  Of 
these  I  will  describe  one  only,  — a  rounded  implement,  with  a  handle, 
about  four  inches  long  and  as  many  broad,  made  of  obsidian.  This,  Mrs. 
John  Heard,  Avho  showed  the  relics,  said  was  their  greatest  treasure,  as 
obsidian  is  rarely  found  here.  I  looked  up  "  obsidian  "  in  the  town  hall 
Encyclopaedia,  but  found  out  little  more  than  that  it  was  of  A'olcanic  origin. 
On  my  way  back  to  Cambridge  I  pondered  over  the  obsidian.  What  did 
it  mean  ?  Where  could  it  have  come  from,  and  where  had  I  seen  the 
same  mineral,  lately  ? 

When  I  got  home  I  looked  up  "obsidian"  in  the  Encyclopaedia  Britannica; 

'  Vikiug  Age. 


40 


THE  GRAVES  01'  TllE  NOllTHMKN. 


it«  external   chamcter  and  localities  I   give  here  in  part:  "Iceland  agate, 
cuhio.     ThiH  mineral  is  found  in  masses,  and  sometimes  m  rounded  pieces. 
Lustre  resplendent,  vitreous ;  fracture  perfectly  conchoidal ;  frag.nents  very 
sharp-edged.     The  most  co.nmon  color  of  obsidian  is  perfectly  black.     .  . 
It  is  hard  and  easily  frangible.  .  .  .  This  n^ineral  is  found  in  Ice  and    m 
Siberia,  in   the  Lipari   Islands,  in    Hungary,  in  Madagascar,  the   island   of 
Teneriffe,  in  Mexico,  Peru,  and  some  of  the  South  Sea  islands.      .  .  Ob- 
sidian was  long  supposed  to  have  a  volcanic  origin  ;  but  it  appears   rom  the 
accounts  of  those  who  have  visited  Iceland,  that  it  is  not  only  found  m 
the  vicinity  of  Hecla,  but  everywhere,  distributed  like  quartz  and  tlint ;  and 
besides  it  is  not  unfrequent  in  countries  where  volcanoes  were  never  known 
to  exist.-     Elsewhere  I  read  that  no  deposits  of  obsidian  have  been  found 
in  tiie  United  States  east  of  the  Rocky  Mountains. 

When  1  went  upstairs  I  went  to  the  little  tray  on  my  toilet  table,  where 
1  keep  the  relics  wliich  I  found  between  two  and  three  feet  below  the 
surface  of  the  ground,  close  to  the  north  wall  of  Thorfinns  long  house 
near  the  river.  One  of  these  I  took  up.  It  was  black  opaque  and 
vitreous ;  its  lustre  was  resplendent,  its  fracture  was  conchoidal :  it  was 
obsidian.' 

Some  o(  my  reader,  may  be  disappointed  becau*  I  have  not  open«l  »hat 
I  think  may  be  the  grave  of  Thorbrand  the  Valiant.  I  have  not  done  «, 
Lcanse  I  think  that  thi,  work  should  be  done  by  an  arcteolopst  who 
mi^t  be  able  to  identify  what  would  then  be  the  earhest  h.toncal 
grave  in  the  United  States. 

.  Examined  at  the  Mineralogical  section  of  the  Harvard  University  Museum. 


